President Trump visited American military forces in Iraq on Wednesday, a surprise trip and the first visit to troops stationed abroad in a combat zone by a commander in chief who has made withdrawing the United States from foreign wars a signature issue.

The trip, shrouded in secrecy, came in the midst of a government shutdown and less than a week after Mr. Trump disrupted America’s military status quo and infuriated even some of his staunchest political allies by announcing plans to withdraw troops from Syria and about half of those stationed in Afghanistan. That decision on Syria, made over the objections of American military generals and civilian advisers, led to the resignation of Mr. Trump’s defense secretary, Jim Mattis, and fueled tensions within the national security establishment

When reading some of the criticism yesterday about Trump not visiting troops on Christmas I thought it was a bit of a catch 22. If he did would he still get some flack for leaving D.C. during the shutdown? We know if he went to Mar Lago for the holiday he would have for sure.

Now that he went the day after will this quell this avenue of criticism or just give the Trump haters in the media something more to gripe about?

This is an incredibly dicey time in the administration of “The Donald.” Two generals who were widely respected and praised for doing their jobs as Chief of Staff and Defense Secretary on their way out in a couple of days.

The stock market is taking a hit and the government is shut down. I guess this is as good as time as any to take a trip to a war zone.